Online Letting Agents : Introduction

Normally, letting agent’s fees starts from 5%, excluding VAT, rising to as much as 20% for property management. However, many online letting agents now offer fixed-fee services with no commission.

The average UK rent is around £921 per calendar month. Landlords usually pay a month’s rent in agent fees if they are using a traditional letting agent to find and manage tenants.

NATIONAL AVERAGE ASKING RENT (EXCLUDING GREATER LONDON)

Quarter

Avg. asking rent per month

Quarterly change

Annual change

Q2 2017

£790

+2.8%

+1.9%

Q1 2017

£768

-0.4%

+1.8%

GREATER LONDON AVERAGE ASKING RENT

Quarter

Avg. asking rent per month

Quarterly change

Annual change

Q2 2017

£1,934

-0.2%

-3.2%

Q1 2017

£1,937

+1.5%

-4.2%

(Data source from Rightmove)

How are online letting agents different?

Online agents provide economies of scale by operating across the country. They also save on overheads by taking their services off the high street-savings that are passed on to landlords. The costs involved with high street branches don’t apply to online agents.

How do online letting agents work?

The process of letting remains same for landlords in both the cases. The only difference is that high street letting agents traditionally offer a one-size-fits-all approach, which doesn’t allow the landlord to have control over services-or the cost. Compare to high street agents where high street agents look after viewings and negotiation whereas an online letting agent, the enquiries are directly sent to the landlord for him/her to take an appropriate action e.g. viewing, negotiation or service related. This is one of the few services that online letting agents normally don’t offer or charge for hosted viewings. But they take care of the whole procedure of enquiry handling, taking viewings, negotiation and offer.

Online letting agents, often give landlords more control over how their property is let & managed.

How do online agents benefit landlords?

Cost / Tenant Fees

Landlords save a lot as online letting agents don’t have costly overheads. The same price for the same service anywhere.

Most landlords as well as tenants neglect the high street agent’s awful fees actually they charge to the tenants.

High street letting agents call the or most commonly known as “tenant admin fees”. Tenants are less likely to use high street letting agents that charge them hundreds of pounds! Some online agent’s charges admin fees too but compare to high street it’s very competitive. In both case, whether you use an online or high street agent, it’s always worth to check how much they charge tenants because it may impact the success of your let.

How does it work with 99home?

1. Choose your services: 99home will assist landlords with viewing scheduling as landlords know their property better than any agent. So, they are the best people to show tenants around and this saves a lot of money.

2. Manage adverts: 99home will assist landlords with viewing scheduling as landlords know their property better than any agent. So, they are the best people to show tenants around and this saves a lot of money.

3. Easy letting: 99home will assist landlords with viewing scheduling as landlords know their property better than any agent. So, they are the best people to show tenants around and this saves a lot of money.

What about property viewings?

99home will assist landlords with viewing scheduling as landlords know their property better than any agent. So, they are the best people to show tenants around and this saves a lot of money.

However, the busier or long-distance landlord, can customise their service and go for “Accompanied Viewings” which will cost £199 inc VAT

Finding the best for you

When you compare agents, we recommend you first decide what is it you need - is it all about saving money and time.

If you have any questions and would like to speak with someone at 99Home you can email us at hello@99home.co.uk or call us on 0203 5000 999.